The Light, The Heat
by Lucy McGonagle
Summary: A ja mush songfic, slightly angsty. Please read and review! :


Summary: It's been five years since the war against earth and X.A.N.A. began, and it is still being fought. J/A fluff. ( J/A fluff- lots of it. Be Warned.)

Disclaim: I don't own C.L., or the song in here, by Peter Gabriel 'In Your Eyes'.

Love, I get so lost, sometimes 

_Days pass, and this emptiness fills my heart_

"Materialization…testing…"

The adolescent voice of Jeremie Beloplis seemed to echo strangely in the seemingly otherwise empty dorm room. The computer in front of him cast an eerie greenish light over his face, turning his blue eyes aqua, and made his oval glasses glint ominously.

A second later, a red exclamation point blinked to life on the screen in front of him, and Jeremie let out a loud sigh of frustration, burying his face in his hands.

At once, the face of a pink-haired young woman appeared on the screen, green-black eyes concerned. "Jeremie, it isn't the end of the world, you know," she told him firmly, one pink eyebrow raised. Jeremie just sighed again.

"To me it is," he muttered into his hands. "I…I don't know what's wrong! I've done everything I can think of…and yet…this stupid virus is still there!" He stood suddenly and paced the room franticly, the girl watching him nervously the whole time.

"We graduate in one year…Yumi even failed last year purposely, just so she could stay here as long as possible. She says she wanted to stay, but I still feel guilty about it. Ulrich too…he was gonna go play soccer in some big tournament…but guess what? X.A.N.A. attacks, and suddenly that tournament is history! And what about Odd? He turned down a scholarship to Julliard in America! America, for goodness sake! And what's his reward? To fight a bunch of evil robots in the false hope that we'll win!" He sank back into his chair, eyes blazing with self-hate. "If I could just get this right, everything would be perfect! Yumi could graduate, Ulrich could do what he really wants, Odd could become the rock god he already thinks he is-" Jeremie allowed himself a short laugh at this "-and you could be here!" He looked the stunned pinkette straight in the eyes as he said this. "With us!"

"With you, Jeremie," the girl corrected, smiling slightly and Jeremie blushed deeply. "I'll stay with you." Jeremie's face went purple for a moment, then he sighed, and gave her a small smile.

"I'm sorry I ranted, Aelita," Jeremie apologized softly. "I'm just so…"

"Frustrated?" Aelita supplied, and the boy nodded. "Jeremie, do not worry. Yumi, Ulrich and Odd all understand exactly how hard it is to fight something that fights back- especially since that thing is an insane machine. Jeremie, if you had been in my world, before the first attack, you would have been held in the highest esteem of scientists. And-" she added, seeing Jeremie open his mouth to speak -"your _true _friends, the ones that have known you through all of this, hold you higher than anyone could ever imagine. Me, especially," she added, with a small smile. "Don't blame yourself for what in truth is loyalty and un-dying friendship. They will do anything for you, as will I."

Jeremie was silent for a few moments, seemingly staring right through her, a strange expression his face, his cheeks stained slightly pink. Then he blinked, and ran a slightly shaking hand though his messy blond hair. Aelita watching this, troubled at his unusually silent behavior.

Quite abruptly, Jeremie stood again, and headed toward the door. Startled and now very concerned, Aelita called out to him

"Jeremie- where're you going? Is there something else bothering you?" Jeremie turned, and smiled warmly at her.

"No, Princess," he said, using his nickname for her. "I just need…to think." Aelita nodded, and with a smile, disappeared from the screen.

When I want to run away I drive off in my car… 

Jeremie walked swiftly down the path, ignoring the surprised glances of fellow students relaxing in the shade of the park's trees. He didn't want to talk to anyone. Well…maybe Aelita. He always could talk to her. But he couldn't control himself anymore. Everything was falling down around him. Once an A student, his grades were failing considerably, thanks to the time he took to trying to fight that virus that kept Aelita a prisoner in her own world. The virus, however, was proving as stubborn as Jeremie himself. No matter what he did, it wouldn't leave Aelita. And if she couldn't come to Earth, the war with X.A.N.A would never be won.

"And if she comes here with the virus," Jeremie told himself angrily, "she'll die." He shuddered. He didn't even want to imagine life if Aelita was gone. She made him laugh when he felt like crying, made him feel strong when ever he felt like he wanted to beat himself up.

"Yo! Einstein! Jeremie! You sleepwalking or what, huh?"

Jeremie turned to see Odd Della-Robbera running toward him, his blond-and-purple hair going every which way. He smiled and stopped, guiltily remembering what he had said of Odd earlier.

Odd skidded to a halt in front of him, grinning and breathing hard. "Dude, why aren't you talkin' with the Princess?" He inquired, jerking his head in the direction of the dorm building. He had a wicked gleam in his purple eyes, and Jeremie lowered his head, hiding the blush that had appeared when Odd mentioned Aelita.

"I- I just need to take a rest from that room," he half lied, stammering slightly. "Aelita- Aelita thinks my eyes will be worse if I stay in the dark too long, trying to read."

Odd looked at him suspiciously. "Reading the anti-virus program, you mean," he said shrewdly, and Jeremie sighed, looking sheepish. Odd flung an arm around Jeremie's thin shoulders, and guided him around, and back toward the dorms. "Now I know you're sick," Odd told him, grinning slightly. "Taking time away from alone time with the Princess?" He shook his head, mock serious. "That's strange, strange symptoms."

"Yeah, and what's the disease?" Jeremie asked, raising his eyebrows and pulling out of Odd's grip.

"Love," the artist stated simply. "You're love sick." Jeremie rolled his eyes, but Odd saw his blush, and grinned slyly. "Don't roll your eyes at me, Mr. Beloplis," he said in a falsetto voice. "You logical people think you're just in over your head, but if you just spoke about it, you wouldn't be drowning anymore. And hey-" Odd winked, reverting back to his normal voice –"you never know. She might be happy about what you have to say." Jeremie's blush darkened as he glared at Odd.

"It has nothing to do with…_that_," he insisted grumpily, and Odd snorted, looking skeptical.

"Does too, and you know it. But anyway-" he shrugged and clapped Jeremie on the back. "I won't argue with you, Einstein. You're as stubborn as a mule. See ya!" And with a grin, he sauntered off, hands shoved in his pockets, whistling.

Jeremie stared at the spot his friend had just occupied, thinking. Then, with a sigh and mental shrug, he turned and walked back toward the dorms.

But which ever way I go I come back to the place you are 

Unaware of Jeremie's worries, two more of his friends sat in a corner, completely oblivious to the day.

"Knock, knock, lovebirds!"

Ulrich Stern and Yumi Ishyama jumped apart, both extremely red, and glared up at Odd, who stared down at them, grinning. The brown-haired boy rolled his eyes, and stood, extending a hand to the Japanese girl at his feet.

"You talk to Jeremie?" Ulrich asked his best friend, helping Yumi up. Odd nodded.

"Yep. Einstein is as stubborn as usual. I think he has symptoms of lovesickness."

Yumi snorted when Ulrich rolled his brown eyes. "He's had symptoms of that since the start of seventh grade."

"Yeah, he has," Yumi agreed, and smiled at her boyfriend. "Remember when he first let slip that he liked her?" She grinned evilly. "At lunch?" Odd smirked when Ulrich nodded.

"Something like that will go unforgotten," he said dramatically. "But anyway…our Mr. Logic seems a bit depressed, what with being with out his Princess and all. I've had an idea." Ulrich and Yumi exchanged slightly warily glances, quite used to the often-insane plans Odd came up with in the name of cheering someone up. He however, just grinned again. "No, it isn't _that_ bad," he told them. "Just a way so Einstein isn't quite so…alone." He cocked his finger at them, and they went into a sort of huddle.

Five minutes later, they came out of it, all smirking, and headed toward the park.

_Love, I don't like to see so much pain_

So much wasted, and this moment keeps slipping away 

Aelita stared at the halo-panel before, only partly reading the words written there. She reached up, feeling the icy line of invisible tears down her cheek that were just beyond her reach to see; To touch. A small sigh escaped her. _Like Jeremie._ He was just a breath away from her fingertips. Fingertips that now could feel, despite the fact that none of her now-deleted kin had had a sense of touch. Aelita looked at her own hands, remembering the surprise she felt when she first came back to Lyoko. She was still alien, compared to her human friends. Still looked like what Odd called 'a virtual elf going to a rave'.

She turned back to the panel, and sighed again. She'd never be the same, but, then again, she wasn't sure she wanted to be. A small smile flickered across her face. In away, Aelita _liked_ being a little different. She had been an outcast in the Kingdom of her father. Here, her human friends accepted her strangeness as a part of her; her 'charms', as Jeremie had called once. Aelita grinned for a moment, remembering when her bashful friend had said that: his face had turned as pink as Aelita's own hair. Humans did some strange things, she admitted, but Jeremie just was…well…_Jeremie_.

"Hey…Princess…you there?"

Aelita jumped in surprise, for it was not Jeremie's soft voice that called down to her, but someone else's. She raised an eyebrow as she saw Odd's face pop into her vision-range. She closed her outer, Lyoko eyes for a moment, and knew that Odd could see her, for he grinned.

"Hey, Princess."

"Hello, Odd," Aelita answered, smiling. "What brings you here?" She stopped herself from blurting 'where's Jeremie?' just in time. She did _not _want even Jeremie's most rambunctious friend to know what was on her mind as of late.

Odd grinned impishly. "I've- well, me, Yumi and Ulrich have an idea to get Einstein out of his self-less moping. You got any idea where he keeps that disk with the materialization thingy on it?"

Aelita was quite sure at that moment her face lit up like the sun. "I'm coming to Earth?" She asked, her voice almost a squeak in her excitement. Odd simply grinned, and put a finger to his mouth.

"Nary a word to our Einstein, okay, Princess? I want it to be a surprise." Aelita nodded, and Odd winked at her. '"There'll be five for dinner tonight,'" he said, mimicking Jeremie's voice, and Aelita shook her head, smiling slightly.

"Don't make fun of him," she scolded. "I remember how happy he was when he said that…" she trailed off, unaware of the goofy, beaming smile that had appeared on her face. Odd smirked, and sauntered off, leaving Aelita to her dreaming.

I get so tired, working so hard for our survival 

_I look to the time with you, to keep me awake and alive…_

Jeremie blinked, and the computer screen- the only light in the room- swam before him. He didn't even dare look at the clock; didn't care how late it was. He had to try it.

"One more time," he told himself, reaching for the keys. "One…more…"

With a thump, Jeremie's head dropped, landing sideways on the keyboard, his glass askew.

The next moment, or so it seemed, the young man found himself being shaken, and a familiar voice was calling to him. "Jeremie…please wake up." He wanted who ever it was to go away. His dreams were getting stranger and more wonderful; he didn't want to leave them. Leave the dream-Aelita that felt for him as he did her. A human Aelita, with inhuman eyes.

He finally gave in to the insistent voice, however, and began to wake up. "Whasamatter?" he mumbled groggily, and heard a soft giggle – one that sent him into full wakefulness. He opened his eyes, only to find that he could barely see anything but smudges and blurs: he had lost his glasses. He reached around, but instead of finding his glasses, he found something soft, like a baby's skin. A few seconds later he realized what it was, and snatched back his own hand.

It was someone's hand.

He found his glasses even as he recoiled, and put them on.

His jaw dropped.

She was more beautiful than he had remembered, or even dreamed. Her hair was neater, and slightly longer than last time, and her black-green eyes shone, as did her smile. Dressed in a black skirt, white tank top and a pink blouse, Aelita looked like the Princess she had been. Or still was, in his eyes.

"Good morning, Jeremie."

Jeremie just stared up at her for a moment, then, with a happy yell, he launched himself out of the chair and hugged her, shouting incoherently, and laughing. Aelita let out a surprised cry, then began to laugh as well, hugging him back. She had never seen Jeremie so happy.

The boy hugging her suddenly pulled back, and she saw his face was suddenly very red. She peered at him, slightly concerned. "Is there something wrong, Jeremie?" Seeing the strange imprint, of what must have been the keyboard, on one side of his face, she reached out and touched his cheek gently. "Are you hurt?" Jeremie's face, if possible, reddened even more, but he didn't move. His blue eyes were wide, and staring straight into hers. The seconds stretched before them, then Jeremie placed a hand over hers, just for a moment. The feeling of his fingertips on her skin made her jump slightly, as if a shock went through her – a strangely pleasant one.

"I've-I've missed you, Princess," Jeremie mumbled, still very pink. To Aelita's dismay, he dropped his hand, then moved to sit back in the chair. He frowned, then smiled slightly, and walking to Aelita's side, he bowed, offering her the chair. "Your Highness," he said. The 'Princess' smiled, feeling her cheeks heat slightly, and sat in the chair.

"You've only become more kind since we last met, Jeremie," Aelita told him, and Jeremie blushed again.

"I'm growing up, I guess," he told her. "And you, Aelita, have become-" he almost said 'more beautiful', but stopped himself, his cheeks warming for, it seemed, the millionth time already. "You are even more charming than I could have imagined." He kicked himself mentally: where had that come from? Aelita just smiled, and –did he just imagine it?- and blushed lightly.

"I've missed you as well, my friend," she told him, her smile shy. "I am to assume that you knew nothing of this?"

Jeremie nodded, rolling his eyes. "I'd bet a hundred dollars on whose idea it was." He glanced sidelong at Aelita, who giggled.

"It was Odd, if that's what you're thinking," she admitted. "Well…all three of them, but Odd seemed the most gleeful about it."

"Yeah," Jeremie said, and shook his head. "He's been on a 'cheer-me-up' mode since the last X.A.N.A. attack--" he stopped, and gasped. "Aelita, what about Lyoko? Did…how…" he stammered, then shut up, when Aelita, not knowing quite why, placed a finger gently to her friend's lips, smiling.

"I told them how to do the process, Jeremie," she assured him. "And you know I can tell when an attack is coming. I can feel it." She removed her finger from his lips to tap her own forehead, then smiled wryly. "Human-like or not, I'm still part of Lyoko." Jeremie nodded, uncomfortably aware of how warm his face had grown when she had hushed him so successfully.

Aelita sighed suddenly, and looked at the window, a strange, sad look in her eyes. "I will always be part of Lyoko."

All my instincts, they return 

_And the grand façade, so soon will burn…_

Jeremie frowned at these words, unused to the bitter look on her face. "Aelita…" he hesitated, then reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. The pink-haired girl looked at him, that hint of sadness still in her eyes. "You're part of earth too. Part of the-" he smiled wryly, "-'dare-devil club'". He winced, knowing what else he should have said, but was too afraid to say. "You always will be."

Aelita smiled at him, her heart lifting slightly. "Thank you, Jeremie." Leaning forward, she kissed his cheek. Pulling back, she saw Jeremie's face was bright red, but he was smiling brilliantly.

"You two are too cute…gag me."

Jeremie and Aelita both jumped, then looked around.

In the doorway stood Sissy Delmas.

Jeremie's eyes widened. "What are you doing here, Sissy? How much did you hear?" The principle's daughter smirked.

"Why, geek? Scared that I'll know what you're hiding? Or where she-" Sissy nodded at Aelita -"came from?" Her smirk got bigger. "I've always wondered who that voice was…now I know."

Aelita looked from Jeremie to the girl, Sissy, confused. Was this the brat that her friends had always complained about? And what was the word that the girl had called Jeremie? What was a 'geek'?

Jeremie was now glaring openly at Sissy. "Like you really know what you're talking about," he spat, blue eyes flashing. "No one will believe you."

Sissy's smirk didn't even falter. "That's what you think." She turned to leave, but Aelita stood suddenly.

"Wait. What do you know?"

Sissy's eyes flashed. "Don't talk to me, freak," she hissed. "It's not a good idea."

Aelita raised one pink eyebrow, and Jeremie fought the sudden urge to grin. He knew that look. "I talk to whom ever I wish. What do you want? Your threats are empty…as empty as your mind."

"Shut up."

The 'Princess' ignored this comment. "Who are you? What do you care about trying to bully Jeremie and I? What is the point?"

Sissy rolled her eyes. "Like you'd know, not being human and all."

Aelita's eyes flashed. "At least when I look human, I act like one. You just act like a monster."

Sissy's mouth opened, then closed. Aelita stepped forward. "Get out." Jeremie's eyes widened. He had never heard Aelita so angry. "You've insulted my dearest friend, and you've insulted me. Get out, before I show you why my people hated me so much." Sissy stared at the girl in front of her, stunned.

"Do what she says, Sissy," said Odd's voice behind her. "Or the rest of us will help you out the door."

The girl left at a run, and Odd, Ulrich- both still in their pajamas- and Yumi walked into the room. "Seems like we got here just in time," Yumi, dressed in black as always, remarked, sitting down on the floor. Ulrich followed suite. "She giving trouble again?"

Jeremie nodded. "She claims she knows all about Lyoko and she'll tell everyone."

"She's lying," Aelita said at once. "I could tell."

He grinned at her. "That was great, by the way, Princess." Aelita blushed slightly. "I've never seen you do that."

"I usually don't," the pinkette admitted softly, blushing. "But she insulted you." Yumi, Odd and Ulrich exchanged smug looks.

"So, did you have fun this morning, Einstein?" Odd piped up, grinning wickedly.

Jeremie glared half-heartedly at his strange friend. "Yeah, Odd. It would have been nice if you had at least mentioned something."

"But it wouldn't have been a surprise," insisted Ulrich and Yumi together. The couple grinned at each other, then Ulrich went on. "You should be proud. Mr. Teche the 2nd here didn't blow it up like we thought he would." Odd threw a pillow at him with a wicked insult muttered in Spanish.

"So what is going on now?" Aelita asked, rolling her eyes at Odd's antics as Yumi giggled slightly. Jeremie and Ulrich looked at the clock, then looked at each other with surprisingly identical expressions of horror.

"Showers!"

Yumi let out another giggle as all three boys jumped to their feet and rushed out the door, yelling something about towels. Aelita raised her eyebrows, confused.

"What was _that_ about?"

The Japanese girl grinned wickedly. "Oh…just a guy thing. Too lazy to take the shower at night, sleep too late to take it in the morning…Usually Jeremie's on time, but I think he was a little _distracted_ this morning," she added, winking at the blushing Aelita.

"Don't make her feel bad, Yumi," piped Jeremie from the doorway, and Aelita's face lit. "She just got here."

Yumi raised her eyebrows as the teenage genius entered. "You speed wash or something?" Jeremie snorted and shook his head.

"No, speed washing is what Odd and Ulrich are doing. I forgot I washed already, plus I'm getting out of there before Odd starts primping his precious hair," he drawled, and both girls broke out laughing. Jeremie smiled, and threw his towel and old clothes into a hamper in a corner. Turning back, he sat down next Aelita, who smiled at him.

Yumi looked from one to the other "When's your first class?"

Aelita glanced at Jeremie, who nodded. "She doesn't have any. Yet."

"But I remember them," the Princess instead. "History, and mathematics and literature and science…"

"And Phys. Ed which Jeremie skips constantly," Yumi pointed out, and Jeremie rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, and like I'd have anything above a zero if I did spend my time running around instead of trying to save Aelita," he retorted, and Yumi sighed, nodding.

"True." A bell rang, and the girl got her feet. "That's the bell for us, Einstein. You gonna stay here? It's study hall," she added for Aelita's benefit. Jeremie and Aelita looked at each other, and Yumi waited, as she always did, when those two seemed to communicate silently, some how.

Jeremie looked back at Yumi. "I think we'll go for a walk." Yumi smiled slyly, shook her head, waved, and then left, humming some random tune.

_Without a noise, without my pride_

_I reach out from the inside…_

The earth was blazing with color, and the wind raced around the forest. Aelita inhaled, and a millions smells reached her nose: the crisp cold air, the musty odor of the crunching old leaves under her feet, and a warm smell of paper, spice and machinery that rang a bell in the back of her head, but couldn't be placed. For some reason, Aelita felt her cheeks grow warm as that particular smell reached her nose.

"Aelita? Are you cold at all?"

Aelita turned her head to look at Jeremie, and the smell increased slightly. She shook her head, trying to ignore it. "No," she told him, smiling. "It's wonderful out here." She held out her arms and turned in a small circle, right there in the middle of the sidewalk. "It's so refreshing to have such senses. I envy you, Jeremie."

The young man grinned. "Well, wait till you smell something bad. Odd's feet, for example. Then you'll wish you were back in Lyoko with no sense of smell." Aelita giggled in spite of her self. Odd was infamous for his smelly feet.

Quite suddenly, Aelita's own booted foot caught on something, and she stumbled.

Jeremie was there in an instant, one arm wrapped around her waist, the other braced, ready to catch them both if he fell. For a moment, the two wobbled uncertainly; then gravity let them go, and Aelita's feet settled rightfully on the ground. Jeremie, however, didn't let go over her waist.

Aelita turned to look at him, and instead of looking him straight in the eyes, she suddenly found something warm, moist and gentle pressed to her mouth. The strange smell from earlier suddenly seemed to fill her head, and her eyes closed. It made her think of the first day she came to earth, when Jeremie had hugged her so tightly; when he had held her hand when walking her home; the sadness in his blue eyes when she had to leave.

Suddenly the gentle pressure left her lips, and Aelita gasped, her head still spinning. She opened her eyes, and saw Jeremie's face, bright red with embarrassment. But his eyes. For a moment, Aelita felt as if she was lost in his eyes. A strange burning joy there, a fire that stole her breath.

In Your Eyes, the light, the heat 

_In Your Eyes, I am complete _

_In Your Eyes, I see the doorway_

_To a thousand churches…_

Jeremie found himself speechless. What had he done? He was trembling like mad; his heart pounded. A sweet taste still lingered on his own lips, and he felt his face grow hot. What had come over him to make him do that? Sure, he had wanted to for ages, but… He looked into Aelita's face, watched her eyes open slowly after he had stopped kissing her. Then he saw the look in her eyes. Confusion, surprise, but also a pure bliss that made the green depths sparkle like diamonds. It made him think of stained glass windows: so beautiful and bright.

He still hadn't let her go.

_In Your Eyes, the resolution_

_In Your Eyes, to all my fruitless searches_

_Oh, I see the light in your eyes…_

Aelita blushed again as she looked up at the stunned, yet happy expression on Jeremie's face. She wasn't quite sure what had just happened, but –her blush deepened-she had to admit she enjoyed it. Even more she liked the feeling of being so close to him; that scent- Jeremie's own personal smell, Aelita realized with a smile- still filled and fogged her mind.

"Aelita," Jeremie whispered suddenly. It was more like a sigh than anything else.

For a moment, Jeremie's face reddened, and he closed his eyes. On impulse, Aelita stood on her tiptoes, and kissed him back. She felt his hold on her tighten gently, and she shivered, closing her own eyes once more.

Quite suddenly he pulled away, picked her up and twirled her around in a circle, laughing. Aelita yelped in surprise and clung to his shoulders until he put her down.

The young man smiled down at her, cupping her face in his hands. "Princess." He paused, then hugged her tightly. Aelita buried her face against his shoulder, her arms around his neck. "I almost gave up hope," Jeremie whispered suddenly. He pulled back slightly, and brushed a strand of hair from her face. "I though I'd never be able to embrace you again."

Aelita smiled, and ran a hand through his hair. "So did I, " she admitted softly. "But I'm glad we were both wrong." Jeremie smiled, caught her hand, and kissed it lightly.

"I thought I'd never be able to say this," he began, and he blushed slightly. "But…Aelita, I- I love you." Aelita smiled, and lightly kissed his mouth again.

"And I you," she told him, pulling away. Jeremie's blue eyes widened behind his oval glasses, and he took hold of both her hands.

"Stay here," he pleaded suddenly. "I'll do anything. Stay here with us."

"With you, Jeremie. I'll stay with you." Aelita corrected, smiling. Jeremie blushed, the words familiar, even as complete joy radiated from his face as he looked down at her. Aelita's smile widened, and she stepped away, one hand still in his. Jeremie immediately wrapped one arm lightly around her, and guided her back toward Kadic.

"You'll help me with the anti-virus?" he asked suddenly, his voice still warm. Aelita nodded, and gently squeezed his hand.

"Did I not say I'll do anything for you, my Jeremie?" she whispered, smiling. Jeremie smiled as well. "We are now free."

_In Your Eyes, I am complete_

Well, ppl, that's it. Thanks for reading, and please drop a review. Adios, Lady Lucy.


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